The Hincapie Development Team delivered another impressive performance to control a strong break in stage 5 of the Tour of California and defend Toms Skujins' overall lead on the eve of the time trial.

“[My] guys did amazing; with help from Etixx, we managed to not let [the break] get too far ahead, kept them close, 3:30 or so, we knew after the last descent that it could be tailwind, or tail-cross, fast finish, had them at two minutes, [it] didn’t get too out of hand,” Skujins said. “It was a bit hectic in [the] final with rain, [but I] managed to keep the jersey. I’m happy.”

“To be fair, I can’t say we were the only team working today,” stage winner Mark Cavendish said on the press conference. “Over the last few days, the Hincapie team has been phenomenal in controlling the race. The peloton has been lined out the whole day. We just swapped out guys all day.”